Collingswood restaurant owner being detained at Delaney Hall

COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. (WPVI) -- The owner of a South Jersey restaurant is being held in a detention facility in North Jersey after being taken into custody during a routine check-in with immigration officials last week.

Action News spoke with Zena and Tarek Saifo on Wednesday night. They say their father, 65-year-old Iemad Saifo, is currently at Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark.

The facility has been the site of recent protests, and over the weekend, a migrant died while in custody there.

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"We see everything on the news, people getting detained and everything. We just never envisioned it would happen to one of our own," Tarek Saifo said.

The Saifo children said their father came to the United States from Syria in 2002.

Zena explained, "He came on a B1/B2 visa. And since then, he's been following the proper legal procedures, working with multiple lawyers and doing everything he can to attain status."

However, Zena said her father's path to citizenship has been pending for years. Meantime, she, her three siblings, and her mother all have status in the U.S.

A week and a half ago, her father received a letter instructing him to check in with immigration officials at the Department of Homeland Security office in Mount Laurel.

On Friday, July 31, Iemad went to the office with his lawyer, Tarek and Zena.

"The lawyer came out and told me that they're detaining my dad," Zena said. "I'm not sure how to even describe the feeling at that point."

In the days since, Zena and Tarek have been able to speak with their father. They told Action News he is in good spirits - constantly telling them to worry about themselves and not stress over his detainment.

But, right now, they are working to take care of him. They have reached out to state officials, and they have been in constant contact with their family's lawyers in an effort to get their father released as soon as possible.

"It's just very sad and frustrating that people are here simply just to give themselves a better life, their family a better life," Tarek said. "People are taking the legal pathways, and it doesn't matter because one day they could just decide to pick you up."

The Saifo children said they are waiting on a court date for their father. They are hopeful he can be released on bond, so he can be home with family while the legal process plays out.

Meantime, they have launched an online petition to gather signatures of support for their father's release. So far, more than 4,000 people have signed it.